His Excellency the IUght Hon. Edward Frederick Lindley Wood , Baron Irwin of Kirby Underdale, G.M.S.l., G.M.I.E., Viceroy and Governor-General of India. NOTES ON KOLHAPUR Her Excellency Lady Irwin. NOTES ON KOLHAPUR BY RAO BAHADUR SIR R. V. SABNIS U.OIWAJC OP II'.OI.HAIUI. BOYB.\Y THE TI:UES PRESS 1928 CONTENTS PART I PAGI Situation and Aspect .. I Early History 3 Mauryu ... 3 Andhras 4 Chalukyas •• .5 Yadavu •• .. 6 Dahamanis .. 6 Marathas: Shivaji the Great, 1674 to r68o 7 Sambhaji •• .. 8 Rajaram •• 9 Shlvaji n. lj'OO to I7U •• 9 Sambhaji II. 1712 to 176o .•• 9 Shivaji III. 176o to r8u •• IO Shambhu. 18u to r8u: •• •• II Shahaj~ 18zr to 1837 n Shivaji IV, 1837 to t866 •• • • 11 Rajaram II, 1866 to 1870 u Shivaji V, 1870 to 1883 •• u Shahu II, 187-4 to 1921 and Minority period 13 Rajaram Ill •• •• 2S viii CONTENTS. PART II. PAGE Amba Bai Temple .. 39 Ceiling of Navagraha-:Mandap or Ashta-dikpal temple 4t Vitoba Temple • • 44 Tryrnbu1i • • • • 45 The Memorial Temples •• .. 49 Temple of Kopeshwar (Khidrapore) .. 50 Royal family of England ·• 53A New Palace .. 54 Old Palace •• .. 55 Residency •• • • '57 Shri Radhabai Akka Sahib Maharaj buildings .. 58 The Town Hall .. 59 Raj aram College •• •• 6o Kolhapur General Library · .. 6:a Ahilya Bai Girls' School .. 64 Jayshing Rao Ghatge Technical School .. 67 Albert Edward Hospital .. 6g Her Highness Shri Vijayamala Veterinary Hospital.. 7I Rajput Wadi Paddock • • • • 72 Shri Shahu Chhatrapati Spinning and Weaving Mills. 74 Sir Leslie Wilson Road and Lady Wilson Bridge • . 76 Shri Rajaram Tank 78 Panch Ganga Pumping Installation .. Bo Kalamba Tank 83 Ranka1a Tank Bs Panhala .. 86 PREFATORY NOTE HANDY volume giving a concise up-to-date ·A account of Kolhapur and its chief institu­ tions, temples and places of interest, has been a longfclt want. The following pages are written with a view to meet it. This short narrative of the Kolhapur State has been compiled mainly from the follov.ing sources :- (I) Kolhapur by Major Graham, Political Superintendent in the early fifties of the last century. (2) Campbell's Gazetteer of Kolhapur. (3) Administration Reports of Kolhapur. (~) Rao Bahadur Latthe's Memoirs of Hi..;; Jlighness Shri Shahu Chhatrapati, Maha­ raja of Kolhapur. · (5) lnfonuation kindly furnished by ofikers of the State and others. · To all these, I am greatly indebted. My ackno\\ledgments are due also to Dr. K. N. Sitaram, ~I.A., }>h.D., \·ice-Principal in the Rajaram Ccllege, who has furnished the ii ·PREFATORY NOTE • . archa!Ological portion both .in the first as well as. second part of the notes. , . i"owe a :debt '6£ gr~t.itud~ to the Kolhapur ··. Durbar, under whose .kind patronage these notes · . a~e published. · · R. V.S. G.C PART I. KOLHAPUR-ITS HISTORY. PART I. KOLHAPUR. KoLHAPt1R SrA TE lies between East Longi .. ~ a tude 74° 44' n• and 73° ·U' x6• and North..,... 0 0 11 Latitude li 10' 45 .. and I,S so' 20 • Its area is 3,2 I i. I square miles and population according to the census of xgu, 8JJ,I26 souls, and its approximate ,;ross revenue was 91 lakhs in 1925-26. It enjoys a temperate climate throughout the year, not being subject to the extremes of cold or heat. It has an average rainfall of about 40 inches. The undulating country in which it is situated is about 2,000 feet above the sea level, and its proximity to the Eastern slopes of the Sahya.drls renders the greater part of the State almost immune from famine and even from scarcity. It is irri· gated by six tributaries of the Krishna river, that take thcir source in the range of the Sahya mountains forming its western boundary. \\ithits rich variety of fauna and flora. its meandering silver streams \\ith the ever green sugar plantations on their banks, the spurs of the Sahyadris, capped here and there \\ith impregnable fortresses and 2 KOLHAPUR STATE. its sturdy warlike people, it may be called the Punjab of the Deccan, representing as it does a chapter of history illuminated with brilliant · deeds of bravery and noble self-sacrifice in the country's cause. ·. T H h H . hn of olhapur and Bh vn g r . SHORT HISTORY OF KOLHAPUR. The history of this very ancient city, sacred~' alike to the Hindu, the Jain and the Buddhist, Hiaw'r· can be divided into six well defined periods. The first period can be styled the MAURY A period, the second the ANDIIRA, the third the CHALUKYA· R.~sHtRAKUtA, the fourtl1 the SILIU.R-YADAV, the fifth the B.uuM.\XI-BIJAPUR and the last the !\IARATHA. The tirst four periods cover the early years of Hindu supremacy up to 1347 A.D. The last two, Bahamani-Bijapur or Mahomedan period, lasted from 1347 A.D. to abo11t 1700 A.D • .and the 18th century ushered in the !\Iaratha period. Since arch:eology in the State is still in a very u..,... · primitive stage, and no excavations worth the name have as yet been made, the only monuments we can rely on for the history of the liaurya JX'riod are those which were uncovered by the e.xcavationsof xS;;A.D. Of these, the most import- .ant was a Stup (tope) constructed of burnt bricks, .aoout So feet in diameter, and apparently only 8 feet in height, enclosing a stone box which <:ontained a crystal casket, similar to those found 4 KOLHAPUR STATE. near Taxilla and Bhilsa. It is now preserved in the­ Prince of Wales Museum in Bombay. It contains an inscription in Brahmi characters of the 3rd century B.C.. when the Mauryas ruled a large part of the 'country... The stream called Jitinala, that flows. by t~e side of the Stup is ~arked. by a sacred spot cru!E~d Gaya· by reasons, no.. doubt, .9f its proximity: ~o- the Budh~l, Stup, like i~s· ·p~oto­ type in· Northern India.· 'For the conyeriience of batliers. m·the holy stream; a .stone fiiglit; of steps had been built~ But ·the spot h~s n~w under­ gone considerable change owing to the diversion of current. .IIi addition. to the above find, the fact ·that. several of the families in. · Kolhapur still bear. the. surriame .'More'· or 'Maurya' proves that this · part. of ·the country must have. been under : the . doininati<?n ~ o( and inhabited . by members belonging to that Imperial ·Race. ·During the glorious days . of the Andhras,. , KolhaP.ur Lor. Hippocura .3$ Jt was then called, was t~~ western capital_ of. the Andh:ras, just :as Sri Kakulam . or Dharanikota. was their · Eastern capital~ and as such is mentioned by. Ptolemy,. the Egyptian geographer (A.D. 151) .. Besides,. ample evidence is· afforded of the rule of at least six :;Icings. of the Andhrabritya dynasty by the hundreds of coins. discovered in 1877 in the ::f3rahmapuri ,Hill, along with. various articles o£ domestic use and religious worship. SHORT HISTORY OF KOLHAPUR. 5 Besides · these . discoveries· from the Brahma· purl Hill which at one· time may probably have housed a Buddhistic · settlement, there ·are three sets of caves \\ithin the State limits of Kolhapur belonging to the same period, which were evidently used by the Bikkus for : pl3.;<:es of retreat.· Of these the first, now converted· for Hindu uses and occupied by the shrine of Ramling (Alta sub-division), seems to belong to the same date as the old caves at Pandava Darah (Panhala Division) and at Povala Darah· (near the Jotiba Hill). Among these the best are now at Povala Darah, where besides a structurat Chaitya or Stup shrine, there are also pillared assembly halls, habitation cells, etc., now sunk under the earth. The Andhra period was succeeded by the GaiU,-. Chalukya period, which afte~ a time was followed by the Rashtrakuta · period which ushered in as-ain a later Chalukya period .. This. ~p~ _is represented by a large number of inScriptions (e.g., that of Jagadekamalla Deva, Saka 948, etc.). It shades off into the period of the Silhara rulers of Kolhapur, who were mainly Jains by persuasion, although they patronised Hindu temples also. Under these rulers, who numbered about half a dozen, Panhala assumed considerable importance. The greatest of the dynasty wa.S Bhoja II, who built the six reputed forts in Kolhapur, t:i:., Bavada, Bhudhargad, Khelna. 0r 6 KOLHAPUR STATE. Vishalgad, Panhala, Pavangad and Samangad • .The: Amba Bai, the Vitoba and other temples in Kolhapur were .renewed, several Jain Eustis, neary l36o, were built within the city, the famous Rankala.and other tanks were dug and built and finally t~e-.Brahmapuri Hill was abandoned as a living place. Their inscriptions, scattered in Kolhapur territory and hitherto discovered, D;umber at least half a dozen, and new discoveries are being made. Yaclavu. The period of the Silharas merges into that of the Yadavas, who erected a number of shrines at Bid and elsewhere in Kolhapur territory and whose coins are still to be found there. Several places in the State territmy attest their presence by the names still borne by some families, and also by the. evidence of archreological finds. · Thus Singmipur, a few miles from Kolhapur, was probably one of the headquarters of Singhana II . of this dynasty.' The inscription stone bearing date shaka II35 (1213·14 A.D.) fixed on the walls of the Khidrapore (Kopeshwar) temple, belongs to .this king. Therein he grants the village of Kurundwad to the service of the said temple of 1 Kopeshwar~ In another inscription he is described' as being •• a very Garuda putting ·to flight the serpent, which was the mighty Bhoja, whose habitation was Panhala." Bahe•••i~o · This Yadava period witnessed the onslaught of the armies of the.